1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for removing turf and soil to allow the insertion of a putting green cup in a precise and efficient manner.
2. Background of the Invention
For a variety of reasons, the location of golfing green cups must be changed from time to time. When the cup is moved, a cylindrical core of turf and underlying soil must be removed in order to permit the insertion of the plastic cup into the newly bored hole. When the cylindrical core is removed from the putting green surface, it is desirable to avoid spilling dirt on the green surface. It is also desirable and necessary that the hole be bored so that the center line of the boring is perpendicular to all planes of the green""s surface. Unfortunately, prior art devices seldom allow these requirements to be met because such devices used linkages which are difficult to actuate and which often destroy the turf plug, littering the surface of the green with cuttings, etc. Moreover, prior art devices are extremely difficult to operate and required high strength to remove the cut plug of turf and underlying soil from the cutting device. This renders such prior art devices inefficient and makes them a potential source of injury to greenskeepers.
The present turf cutting and handling system overcomes the difficulties of prior art devices and allows clean and efficient cutting of golf green cup bores.
A turf cutting and handling system for forming a borehole for setting a golf green cup includes a generally cylindrical hollow barrel with a cutting edge disposed about a lower periphery of the barrel, and a manually grippable handle disposed about an upper portion of the barrel. The handle permits the barrel to be rotated by means of the handle and inserted into the turf of a golf playing surface by a greenskeeper. The cutting barrel is adapted to be withdrawn from the turf so as to extract a cylindrical plug of turf from the playing surface. An ejection port disposed in the barrel above the cutting edge and below the handle allows manual removal of the turf plug from the ejection port once the turf plug has been pushed upwardly in the barrel by an ejector plunger. The ejector plunger moves the turf plug from the cut position and into registry with the ejection port.
The barrel preferably tapers from a smaller diameter at the cutting edge to a larger diameter of the ejection port so as to more readily permit movement of the turf plug from the initial cut position to a removal position. The turf cutting and handling system of the present invention further includes a depth controller for limiting the penetration of the barrel downwardly into a turf surface. The depth controller includes a ground contact member for abutting the turf surface which is being cut at such time as the barrel has been inserted to a desired depth. The depth controller further includes a carrier for adjustably clamping the ground contact member to an outer surface of the barrel.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the ejector plunger comprises a closed-end cylinder projecting upwardly from a base. The closed-end ejector plunger may be fastened within a bucket so as to project upwardly from the bottom of the bucket such that grass and soil associated with the turf plug will be prevented from falling on the ground or turf playing surface when the turf plug is removed from the ejection port of the barrel.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for cutting a borehole for a golf green cup comprises the steps of manually rotating and driving a hollow cylindrical cutter barrel having a depending a peripheral cutting edge through a turf playing surface and into underlying soil, thereby forming a turf plug having a circular grass upper surface, a cut generally cylindrical circumferential surface, and a rotationally sheared soil lower surface. The present inventive method further includes the steps of manually extracting the cutter loaded with the plug from the playing surface and manually sliding the loaded cutter onto an ejector plunger engaged with the lower surface of the turf plug. The ejector plunger moves the turf plug upwardly in the barrel until the plug is registered with an ejection port disposed in the cylindrical outer wall of the barrel above the cutting edge. This permits easy manual removal of the turf plug from the cutter barrel.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the present system and method allow the cutting of boreholes for golf green cups with precision and without unnecessarily distributing unwanted plant and soil materials upon the putting green""s surface.
It is a further advantage of the present invention that the inventive turf cutting and handling system allows putting greens to be managed by individuals having moderate skill and strength levels.
It is a further advantage of the present invention that the inventive turf cutting and handling system does not require the use of expensive and difficult-to-operate linkages and other devices for ejecting a turf plug from a cutter.
Other advantages, as well as features and objects of the present invention, will become apparent to the reader of this specification.